Following a 3-3 draw with West Bromwich Albion last week, Chelsea were back into action against London rivals Tottenham Hotspur in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup.
The visitors took the lead with Timo Werner scoring his first goal for Chelsea with a well-taken finish with his weaker right foot. Despite creating a number of chances, Chelsea couldn’t double their lead thanks to Hugo Lloris in goal.
Within the last 10 minutes, Tottenham’s Erik Lamela found the net to finally even the scoreline and take the game to penalties and it was Spurs who came out on top after Mason Mount hit the woodwork with his penalty that sent Tottenham to the quarterfinals of the Carabao Cup.
Most importantly and damaging for Chelsea and Frank Lampard, it’s one trophy that they are no longer in the running for and they are arguably only competitive in the FA Cup when you look at the teams ahead of them in both the Premier League and Champions League.
The penalty loss brought more pressure on Lampard who lamented his side’s ability to defend in the box.
“It was frustrating, the thing we work on is defending our box. We did it very well at Brighton and against Liverpool for most of the game,’ Lampard told Sky Sports.
“You sleep for one minute and don’t recover and defend a zone where players score goals then you are going to concede. Players have to get better at that.’
“We wanted to stay in the competition but there were some really good bits in the performance. With the control we had we want to score more goals.
“We can do better in terms of our reaction. Can we be more positive? I think that’s going to come. We were looking tired towards the end of the game and that’s understandable considering where we are.”
Chelsea Odds and Betting Prediction
Chelsea face a Crystal Palace side who sit sixth in the league after winning two of their three league games this season. Palace talisman Wilfried Zaha has made a strong start to the season scoring three goals in three games, which is just one off his entire tally for the whole of last season.
Palace already have one impressive away win under their belt this season, defeating Manchester United 3-1 at Old Trafford but their recent record against Chelsea lies heavily in the Blues favour.
Chelsea are currently on a five-match winning streak against Palace, with three of those five matches only separated by one goal which goes to show it’s always a difficult encounter between Chelsea and Crystal Palace.
I think Chelsea get back to winning ways with Timo Werner scoring his first Premier League goal.
Sportsbooks’ odds on a Chelsea win open at -250. Odds on Palace breaking their losing streak with a win against Chelsea open at +700. Odds on a draw between the two teams open at +375.
